What’s your name & Your Company Name: Abigail Wickham and my company is Shukura Natrorganics.

Embracing the hair you’re born with sounds like it should be the easiest thing in the world, but for some, it’s a huge challenge. Shukura Natrorganics produces KuSHEaMa Hair Care and is the brain child of Abigail Wickham. These products provide a solution for all hair types, for all possible problems of the hair and scalp. All products are composed of only natural ingredients, based on KuSHEaMa Hair Care products are made in Texas USA and combine the healing power of herbs and natural oils, quality and comfort in use. All products are composed of natural oils: Flax Seed oil, Macadamia oil, Oblepiha Sea Buckthorn oil, Kukui Nut oil, Neem oil, Argan oil and Cashew oil, Creatine, Shea Butter, Olive oil, Wheat and Barley oil and Nettle oil. My hair care line encompasses products for the whole family. Whether your hair is curly, kinky, straight, processed, there is something for everyone. The line has four distinct products offerings: Curl, Traditional products, Honey for Hydro Moisture and Coconut for Hydro conditioning and moisturizing. Additionally, I also produce skin care and body care products that offer moisturizing and conditioning properties to the skin. The skin care line includes lotions, misters and creams to target dry skin such as eczema and dry heals. My natural dry skin products are designed to be a healthy non-toxic treatment for eczema, psoriasis and dry itchy sensitive skin. My eczema treatments are made with nature’s finest ingredients for dry and itchy skin. Experience the difference our all-natural alternative creams and butters will bring to even the driest of skin. You will notice relief, comfort and smooth skin within a matter of days. Is a line of candles and room and linest sprays to lighten your mood and freshen your home. A wonderful addition to your collection of candle scents.

In 2008 I needed Christmas gifts for my family members , so I ordered a starter candle kit. After giving them as gifts others around my candles enjoyed them so much they asked if I could make more. I now have my candles in 3 locations including the local farmers market. I have been asked to be the candle supplier for a new farmers market opening soon. I do local craft shows, fundraisers and have a yearly fall open house at my home. I have been overwhelmed with the turn out of the open house. Everyone always looks forward to it in November. Next month I am having my very first Candle/Tart party where I will have cash & carry items, and will take orders. I will also be booking future parties with great gifts to the hostess. I sell Candles in jars, crocks and an apple shape jar, I live in apple country and our local high school’s mascot is an apple. The apple jar is only filled with apple scents to go with the theme. I also make tarts, I have them at a local hair salon and they are flying off the rack. I owe a lot of my success to Nature’s Garden for their wonderful products. I receive so many compliments on the scents that I use and they all come from Nature’s Garden. I recently visited my daughter who lives in another state and took her a starter kit and now she has her own business of Soy Melts using all Nature’s Garden supplies. Her first few weeks she sold over $400.00 in Soy Melts to neighbors and co workers, she is excited to do her first home party. Thank You Nature’s Garden for helping my daughter and me with our business, we love it!

I started making jewelry and was looking on YouTube and came across a soap making video ,I went home and try it and I was hook , I stated making for me and my family and surprisingly my family was like you need to sell them there are good and that is how my company started.

What’s your name & Your Company Name: My name is Lance Smith. Owner of LantzWicks

Born and raised in Sharon Pennsylvania, I’ve always been drawn to the arts. From learning how to play guitar from my grandfather, learning crochet from my great grandmother, and learning needlepoint from my mother, I really just wanted to be creative with my life. But living in such a cultural deprived area, I had to work jobs in factories, but I always had a creative approach to doing them, but all ended with being dead ends.

I started making soy candles in single poured glass jars, and metal containers as a hobby for myself, a few friends, and some relatives. After a couple years, I started learning more processes with different waxes, and found that I was honing a craft I enjoyed doing! This was making shopping for gifts alot easier for the people I love in my life. Having some moral support from some friends, they encouraged me that I should start making and selling them for a living since I was really enjoying the work, including a friend that I work for doing pottery, assisting with selling at art shows.

My friend who runs a printing business, where during the winter of 2011 allowed me to use her garage for making, but was too drafty for proper cooling. In January of 2012, I completely emptied a walk-in closet in my old bedroom for my workspace back home at my mother’s house, and still use it today! My friend helped me with making business cards that are also still used today as well.

I started only with just one Faberware electric pot with only one pouring pitcher, and one electrical outlet. Since March of this year, I’ve had two more outlets installed, and acquired another electric pot and pouring pitcher to increase my production!

Since this time, my pouring is now very easy, my scent throw has increased, and feedback has been very positive! I’ve even learned more from reading the manuals in Nature’s Garden site in the Free Support section. My goal is to produce a great product, for a great price.

What’s your name & Your Company Name: My name is Jennifer McGrath and my company is Burning Tears by Madame Jen.

Just about five years ago I started making candles. I originally started making candles for my own home using combinations of color and fragrances for luck, prosperity and spiritual guidance. As time went by I felt the need to share, so I handed some candles to my family, a few friends & my co-workers, even my loving husband started taking them to work at the tattoo shop. It took about two years later for me to build the confidence and start selling my candles.

The name Burning Tears by Madame Jen came from the candles flame. If you look at a candles flame, it’s in the form of a tear drop. My girlfriends call me “The Madame”, being dark by nature; the two magically came together “Burning Tears by Madame Jen”. I originally started off making candles using paraffin wax, and then I had customers asking if I offered soy. So I dropped the paraffin wax and strictly stuck with soy for a while. Early last year I felt like I needed something new to do. There’s only so much you can do with soy. I had actually considered making soap, but wasn’t sure that I wanted to learn something completely new. There was so much hard work that came with perfecting the perfect candle. I’m a full time paralegal with two children, so I stuck with what I knew. I picked up some slabs of paraffin wax and started to play again. This filled me with joy. I love creating pillar candles with different textures and color combinations. You just never know what is going to come out of the mold in the morning, each candle is so unique. So now I offer both soy and paraffin in my line, just about every shape or form i.e. pillars, tin containers, glass jars, warmers, votives and tea lights.

Now, just about every month I’m doing a new craft market/festival. I even have a baby shower and three weddings under my belt. My candles are also sold at a handful of boutiques here in Atlanta. I have always been a crafty person and love creating, but candle making is the one thing that really stuck to me. I not only love making candles for myself , but it makes me very happy and love to hear when my customers tell me how much they are enjoying them too.

I tried to combine a photograph of a handful of my candle creations using Natures Garden’s fragrance oils. Top left is Sweet Grass, 4×6 pillar I made using paraffin wax, very natural crisp and clean scent; Top right is Lily of the Valley using soy in a recycled salsa jar. I’ve never smelled Lily of the Valley before, I’m more of a earthy fragrance kinda gal and this is just a beautiful floral scent!; Bottom left is Lemon Grass using soy in a clamshell which is so clean and refreshing; Bottom right is Dragons Blood which is my ABSOLUTE favorite of my NG oils. Right along with my other top fave is Frankincense & Myrrh (not depicted here, but totally worth the shout out).

“100% Soy Candles, all Hand poured; we do Not buy our Candles and resell them as our Own. We provide various colors and lots of scents to choose from. Various Styles and choices are available and we are always looking into new designs. Our Most popular Line is our Pregnancy and Infant Loss line. A Line that is very dear to our Hearts as I have lost 2 children myself. Our second most popular line is our Food and Beverage which we are so proud of the way it has grown. Our scent list is ever changing and growing. Some scents we fade out till the appropriate season comes back around, others have year round availability. Our scent list is in our “Notes” section on Facebook and is marked with what isn’t Skin Safe or Gel Compatible as we do work with a High Density Gel as well for certain candles.
We also have a Bath and Body section which has grown this year and now includes: Shower Gel, Lotion and Bubble Bath, Sugar Scrubs, Salt Scrubs, Lip Gloss, Lip Balm, and Scented Nail Polish. All our Bar and Decorative Soaps are typically done in a Goats Milk base, however, we do have several other options available to us such as: Honey, Aloe Vera, Shea Butter, Olive Oil, Rose Hip as well as Chamomile Soap Bases. Special Requests for these bases are available and are an additional charge to the price on soaps so when requesting these bases please note that in your message to us. We do also have Bath Salts and All Natural Sugar Scrubs. All made right here by me. We also do Chocolate Candy Pieces and Lollipops. Unfortunately right now we do not offer Sugar-Free Candies hope to have that one day”

2. Why did you decide to go into business? What was your motivation? How long have you been in business? With the kids grown and out on their own, I was looking for some kind of hobby to keep me busy, but also to bring in a little extra money. After searching the internet, I came across a blueberry pie candle and was hooked after that.

3. What products do you make and sell? I make soy jar candles, tarts, breakaway melts, pie candles, air fresheners, beer mug candles and other novelty candles.

4. What are your business goals? To improve and expand my product line as much as possible. I would like to start making lip balms, soaps and other bath products and expand into that market area.

5. What are some products you use from Natures Garden; what are your favorite products from Natures Garden? I use aroma buds, aroma beads, dyes, but the best items are the Fragrance Oils. You can’t beat the scent or price. I have had many compliments on the Pink Sugar type, which is my best seller.

2. Why did you decide to go into business? What was your motivation? How long have you been in business? During a job transition, I began making soaps from my husband’s leftover beer brewing ingredients. Soon after sharing them with friends and family, a friend suggested that we share a vendor booth at a local arts festival. As I began to create soaps for the event, a full-blown business venture began to emerge. Since the spring of 2011, I have developed a full product line and have secured 16 current retailers.

4. What are your business goals? My current business goals include securing additional Okie Crowe retailers further across my home state, finally securing retailers outside of Oklahoma (none to date—boo!), developing my business plan and honing my vision of what I would like my store front to be (bath and body/gift shop OR gift shop to the Okie Crowe brewery?!?, and working to create a livable income for myself through my business.

5. What are some products you use from Natures Garden; what are your favorite products from Natures Garden? Okie Crowe’s favorite Nature’s Garden products are Beer, Cannabis Flower, Dill Pickle, and Money fragrance oils. Beer fragrance oil and ground hops combine to create Okie Crowe’s most authentic smelling beer-scented soap, Tallboy. Beer fragrance oil is combined with Cannabis Flower fragrance oil to create Okie Crowe Schwilly Mama soaps. Cannabis Flower fragrance oil is also used in Okie Crowe’s Cannabis Flower and Stanky Hippie soaps. Okie Crowe Dill Pickle soap, made using Nature’s Garden Dill Pickle fragrance oil was featured in a local about town blog in spring 2012. The Money fragrance oil is used in Okie Crowe’s Beer Money soap. The Vanilla Color Stabilizer is also a great product that has helped me minimize color changes in my soaps. When I initially began making soaps, I had no idea why my soaps were changing colors after being on store shelves a while. After much stress and some research, your product helped me uphold the integrity of my products.

2. Why did you decide to go into business? What was your motivation? How long have you been in business? I’ve been creating things literally my entire life. Over time, the things I would create would take up space; more space than I actually had. When in Spring 2009, a friend suggested, “Why don’t you sell things on Etsy?” So my original idea was simply to clear out space. I opened a shop, but nothing sold. In 2010, the same friend invited me to share a table with her at Louisianime II. There, I sold many of my crafts, with a lady suggesting I open a business to sell items all the time. So the following week, I opened a new shop, Radical Works. From there, I’ve added many difference types of products; as Radical Works is not limited to a single category. Having a shop has not only helped me maintain my crafts and organization, but it has also opened up my mind to many different types of crafts. I always try to include different types within other items.

3. What products do you make and sell? Starting off, I had Radical Bears (teddy bears), magnets, and some leather-working items. In the more recent inventory, I have Radical Bears, hats, scarves, gloves, along with various bath products. This includes soap, bath salts, and perfumes. I’ve also made and sold bath bombs & lotions at a craft show.

4. What are your business goals? I try to set short term goals for myself, as the long term goals can quickly change. But the main goal for my business is freedom through expression. Too many times I’ve been the “odd ball out” in most cases. With my business, it gives me the avenue and method to express myself to others, as well as have others find themselves within my products. It has always been a message in my business: “I never make anything I would like myself”.

5. What are some products you use from Natures Garden; what are your favorite products from Natures Garden? The main products I purchase from the awesome Natures Garden are their bases as well as their fragrances. The fragrances are what keep me coming back, and I love having the fragranced item with the purchases as well. I have a vase for the fragranced roses I’ve received over time.

Why did you decide to go into business? What was your motivation? How long have you been in business? My mother (Kathy) and I started our business in 2008 and originally only sold botanical supplies. We experimented with using those botanicals in bath products and the rest is history. This month marks our 5th year in business and going strong!